


I Have Two Kids and You're Our (cute) Awkward Neighbor. Let's Date?

by myheroesrbands



Series: BakodaFleetWeek 2020 [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bakodafleetweek day 1, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, bato is awkward, but hakoda likes him anyway, getting together au, with the kids as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:13:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25563385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheroesrbands/pseuds/myheroesrbands
Summary: Where Hakoda is a high school teacher with two teenagers, and he may have drunkenly stumbled upon a very important relationship.
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar)
Series: BakodaFleetWeek 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852546
Comments: 19
Kudos: 146
Collections: Bakoda Fleet Week 2020





	I Have Two Kids and You're Our (cute) Awkward Neighbor. Let's Date?

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be posted earlier but I had, like, no creative thoughts working. Happy BakodaFleetWeek yall!! I would also like to thank Brenda for reading this for me like,, incredibly late she's amazing and one of my favorite people !! Okay I hope y'all enjoy this !!

If it weren’t for the entirely too long week Hakoda had just had, he’d definitely be out and about with his buddies for Friday night festivities. But with both of his kids spending the night at their friend’s place and all of his grading for the week actually done, there was no place that he’d rather be than in his home — Ella Fitzgerald’s voice coming through the record player and a cup of red wine in his hand. 

The one thing Hakoda had learned early on with having two kids _and_ being a high school teacher was that weekends away from both dad-duty and teacher-duty were extremely rare. Without them he’d lose his sanity, but they only came around once every blue moon. It wasn’t an ideal situation for his mental health, but he enjoyed teaching and being a father was the best bonus of his life. 

Even then, he wished for someone to be at his side through it all. He would shakily say he was doing okay as a father (Sokka and Katara were proof that he was doing the best he could on his own), but he missed having someone to come home to. He missed cuddling up with Kya at the end of the day. 

Sighing into his wine glass, Hakoda whispered to himself, “I miss you,” before taking another sip of the drink. Kya was the one person in his life that kept him grounded and although it had been almost five years since her death, Hakoda still found himself letting his sorrow drown out his general mood more than he allowed himself to feel joy over her memory.

In a fit to lift his mood, Hakoda reached for the new book that he had been indulging himself in and sat down to read for the night.

Or at least he would have if not for the knocking on his door not twenty minutes into his reading. 

The tall figure of his next door neighbor towered over Hakoda when he opened the door. “I know I shouldn’t barge in and this is actually super embarrassing but I accidentally left my key in my apartment and I won’t be able to get to maintenance until tomorrow morning. Would you mind if I slept here for the night?” The man asked and Hakoda was stunned to temporary silence. 

_Okay,_ Hakoda thought to himself. _Cute neighbor that I’ve only ever seen in passing is standing in front of me right now._

His “cute neighbor” was 6 foot 3 with the most gorgeous long brown hair. Hakoda had seen the man around four times since he had first moved into their building about two months prior and each time he thought the man got cuter than the last. 

The wine became his excuse for why he answered, “You can sleep over here for _several_ nights. All you have to do is ask.” Hakoda _thought_ he was coming off as seductive with the way he had slid his arm up the open door but cute neighbor guy only looked away as if he were going to leave. 

Well he couldn’t have that. 

Coughing, Hakoda straightened and spoke, “No. No, if you need to stay here that’s fine come on in. My kids are gone for the weekend so you’re free to take the living room.” He was trying to fight off the alcohol’s influence and for the most part it was working, but he definitely knew he needed water before he embarrassed himself even further. 

Tall cute neighbor wearily stepped into the front door as Hakoda closed the door behind him and tried to keep his eyes from wandering too far around the room. “I’m Bato,” he introduced as Hakoda walked around the island to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. 

“Hakoda,” he responded after taking a sip of his water. Shaking his head a bit, Hakoda walked back over to ~~cute neighbor~~ Bato and guided him to the living room where he’d be staying for the night. “Help yourself,” he waved to the television and remote in the room and paused. “I’ll go grab blankets and pillows for you. Uh,” he drew a blank and shrugged. 

Sooner rather than later, Hakoda returned with the pillows and blankets for Bato who was simply sitting on the couch looking severely out of place. “Hey if you want I can sleep on the other couch. It’s no problem,” Hakoda offered and Bato went to shake his head but in a second, Hakoda had plopped his body on the couch to Bato’s right and pulled up one of the blankets he’d prepared for the taller man. 

“Do you have any requests? For shows, I mean?” Hakoda asked, reaching for the remote and Bato shook his head as he sat back on the couch to get comfortable. “Hmph,” Hakoda announced before turning the television on and turning to HBO where Game of Thrones reruns were playing. 

As the night carried on, Hakoda and Bato kept their conversation to a minimum — never saying more than was absolutely necessary but enough to get a little understanding of each other. Through this, Bato was able to deduce that Hakoda had an absolutely _horrible_ array of dad jokes that he kept in his arsenal for no other reason than to taunt his kids and their friends. He also discovered that Hakoda was a high school history teacher who had been teaching at the local high school for 7 years. 

“7 years?” Bato whispered in awe to himself at one point hoping the other man wouldn’t hear. Of course the gods were not on his side. 

“Yep!” Came Hakoda’s _definitely_ unnecessarily chirpy voice. “It’s hell. But I loved teaching my kids when they were little, so I decided to turn it up a notch. Their mom,” his tone turned downward and Bato’s eyebrow’s furrowed. This was obviously a soft spot for him. 

“Sokka and Katara’s mom was so glad I had found a way to do something I loved,” he laughed softly. The television was loud enough that Bato was only _just_ able to make out the laugh. He could have sworn it was a grunt but soon enough, Hakoda was looking into his eyes as he smiled, albeit forced. “So yeah! 7 long, hard years.”

Bato hummed and went back to staring blankly at the scene on screen in front of him. 

It didn’t take long for Hakoda to bask in the silence and allow his mind to slip into unconsciousness and soon enough, Bato had done the same. 

That morning, Hakoda awoke to sunlight making it’s way through the window. Registering a dull ache in his head, he turned to his right to find a note, aspirin, and a glass of water sitting on the table. 

_Got the meds for you after I got into my apartment. Thanks for letting me stay the night! Don’t be shy, neighbor._

Hakoda smiled and took the medicine before lying back down on the couch. _No more getting drunk on Friday nights,_ he lied to himself and let out a dry chuckle before closing his eyes to sleep once more. 

The next time Hakoda awoke, it was to his phone ringing from the kitchen where it was sitting on the counter. He slowly made his way over to the device mumbling things about “that damn racket” and “who is that on a Saturday?” when he noticed the missed call had come from Katara. 

And three more were preceding it. 

“Hey is everything alright?” He asked, fully awake, after she answered the call. “Can you come get us? Zuko’s dad is being weird again.”

“I thought you were at Iroh’s place?” He asked as he walked into his room to prepare for a quick shower. 

“Yeah but now Zuko’s dad is here. Toph and Suki also need rides home.” 

“Done. I’ll be there in thirty. Tell Iroh to call me. I’ll remind him when I get there. See you soon. Love you,” he said and ended the call when Katara responded in kind. 

It took him 20 minutes to shower, _finally_ fully wake up, and get dressed. He grabbed his keys from the counter and locked the door to the apartment. Catching a whiff of dark hair out of his peripheral vision, Hakoda turned to his right to find Bato preparing to enter his apartment with grocery bags at his feet. Hakoda hesitated to initiate any conversation but when Bato looked up, he simply smiled and waved at the other man.

_For another day,_ he told himself and began to hurriedly make his way out of the building and into his SUV. In 15 minutes, he was pulling in front of Iroh’s house as a black Ford SUV, probably holding Zuko and his entirely too controlling father inside, drove away. Exiting his car, Hakoda walked to the door and knocked his fist against it. Soon after, Suki appeared at the door. 

“Hey Sokka and Katara your dad is here!” She called behind her and Hakoda stepped inside to close the door. He waited by the door for a few moments before several footsteps made him move aside so the children could grab their bags and jackets. 

“Did you all have a good time?” Hakoda asked when all the kids were seat-belted inside his own SUV. From beside him, his son nodded feverishly before resting his head on the window and dozing off to sleep. 

Katara laughed from behind them and Hakoda made eye contact with her through the rearview mirror as she spoke. “Yeah! Sokka pulled an all-nighter, so he’s definitely tired.” Hakoda sighed before pulling off and making his way into first Suki’s and then Toph’s neighborhood to drop them off at home. Katara, Sokka, and Aang were the last remaining teenagers in his SUV, so he decided to get them something to eat from a local restaurant. 

When the four of them made their way back to their home, Hakoda let his eyes linger for just a second on the door next to their own. _Would he mind if I stopped by?_ Hakoda asked himself before shaking the thought away. He’d only seen the man for _one_ night. There’s no way he’d want _more_ between the two of them this soon.

“Food will be on the counter. I’ll be in my room if you need anything. Make sure Sokka doesn’t fall asleep in his food please,” he pointedly looked at Katara and Aang to make sure they understood and Aang nodded while Katara proceeded to get the food open and ready for them to eat. 

The next day went by in a blur. Aang’s uncle came to pick him up around midday Sunday, Hakoda and Iroh caught up on the state of things between them and their kids and respective families. Hakoda tried not to let his thoughts drift _too_ far to his next door neighbor. 

Of course that wasn’t possible and Hakoda spent a significant bit of time thinking about Bato. And how tall he was. And how long his hair was. And the way his scent lingered on the couch that morning.

It was normal. _Completely_ normal.

Until Monday morning when, as they were all preparing to leave for the school day ahead, there was a knock on their door. Hakoda stilled from his position in the living room where he was gathering paperwork and materials that he’d left out the night before. 

“I got it!” He heard Sokka yell, and he proceeded to gather the materials in front of him. “Hey! You’re our neighbor.”

At that, Hakoda stood straight and turned to the door where Bato was standing looking incredibly embarrassed. “Beat it,” he said to Sokka who pouted but moved to leave anyway. 

“Hey. Look I never got the chance to thank you for the meds on Saturday,” he spoke lowly. “It helped a lot.” Bato’s smile eased and Hakoda wished he could put a smile like that on the man’s face more often. 

_Okay slow down there cowboy,_ he thought to himself and moved to fold his arms to stand more comfortably in the doorway. 

“What’d you need?” Hakoda asked and Bato seemed to shrink in on himself (despite that not being possible — the man was already a giant).

Bato sighed before squaring his shoulders. “Could I have some milk? I had an incident with my dog and I can’t,” Hakoda cut him off with a quick chuckle. 

_Milk?_ He asked himself. _Milk and you being locked out of your apartment are the things that get you to come into my apartment?_

“Sure. Come on in,” Hakoda ushered him in. Bato walked into the apartment again, this time taking in the site of everything in the light. Two kids came running past him and he startled. “Stop running you two!” Hakoda yelled and a chorus of “sorry’s” followed. 

“Kids,” Hakoda laughed before reaching into his refrigerator to grab his carton of almond milk that had luckily, already been used for the morning breakfast. “Sorry if there isn’t enough. Sokka and I usually have big breakfasts.” Hakoda blushed lightly and handed Bato the carton. 

“Thanks,” Bato replied. Letting _something_ hang in the air between them. 

“Hey, would you want to go get coffee this Saturday?” Hakoda asked after walking Bato back to the door. There a crash heard somewhere behind them and Sokka let out some _violent_ curses that were _definitely_ going to get him a scolding on the drive to school.

Bato smiled and nodded. “I’d like that. But hey?” he said and Hakoda sounded inquisitively. “Don’t open too much of that wine. You never know who might want to share it with you in the future.” He winked and left, leaving Hakoda to stand dumbfounded in his doorway.

Okay so cute neighbor, Bato was a little shit. Hakoda would spend the entire week preparing to get back at him.


End file.
